Smile
by Angelus1
Summary: You know how sometimes you're just having one of those days?


Title: Smile  
  
Author: Angelus  
  
E-mail: angelus1317@hotmail.com (Please put "Smile" on the subject line.)  
  
Subject: Everwood.  
  
Category: ELR.  
  
Rating: G.  
  
Summary: You know how sometimes you're just having one of *those days*?  
  
Spoilers: The one where Ephram and Laynie break up.  
  
Archive: Anywhere, just ask me first.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to WGN and whoever the hell it is who created Everwood. They're used without permission, yadda yadda yadda, and I'd say I was sorry for that, but that'd be lying.  
  
Author's notes: Here we go. Yet *another* fluffy ficlet. This must be some sort of sickness, I swear.  
  
Dedication: To my stupid, wonky computer, that will only let me post things when it feels like it.  
  
~*~  
  
You know how sometimes you're just having one of *those days*? The kind where it seems like the whole world is against you and you know you couldn't smile even if someone offered you a thousand dollars to?  
  
Today is one of those days.  
  
Delia knocked over her glass of milk at the table this morning and ruined the history paper I had been up until two a.m. working on. My dad and I got into yet another argument about absolutely nothing. Said history teacher yelled at me for not having my paper, refused to believe my excuse, and sent me to the principal's office for "giving him lip".  
  
And just to make things better, here come Amy and Collin strolling down the hallway, side-by-side, swinging their clasped hands in between them as if they haven't a care in the world.  
  
"Ephram!" Collin calls. Forcing my lips to twist themselves upwards in a half-hearted attempt at a smile, I slam my locker closed and turn to face them.  
  
"Hey, man! What's going on?" Collin asks enthusiastically, sticking out his hand for a friendly handshake.  
  
"Hey, Ephram," Amy says softly, studying the floor. My smile becomes even more forced.  
  
Collin starts talking about some sort of town festival this weekend, and I should probably be listening to him, but someone else has caught my attention: his little sister. Well, not quite so little in my eyes.  
  
I look down at the floor, thinking that perhaps I can see what Amy finds so fascinating. Well, the tile pattern is pretty interesting...But I can only avoid her eyes for so long. When I look back up, she's heading straight towards us, her eyes never leaving mine.  
  
I would panic, but she's smiling at me. Grinning that wide, toothy, bright-eyed, infectious grin. I don't know quite where this is coming form after what happened last night, but I don't say a word. If there's one thing I want to do in this world, more than anything, it's to make peace with Laynie Hart.  
  
"Hey, Laynie!" Collin greets his sister, but she brushes right past him without so much as a hello to grab my hand and pull me to the side of the, against the lockers. I gulp.  
  
"What's up?" I ask. And without any sort of warning, she stands on her tip-toes, wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses me. No questions, no hesitation, just full-on Laynie. I can't help myself from slipping my hands around her waist and drawing her closer to deepen the kiss. And it's a real kiss this time - not a half-ass, closed-mouth peck. Her lips are soft and her tongue is wet and her mouth is hot and delicious and tempting and her tiny body just seems to fit perfectly against mine and I could care less that Collin and Amy are standing no less than five feet away from us.  
  
Until Collin clears his throat, breaking the spell. Whoops. I hadn't quite meant to be making out in the middle of the hallway, but there's just something about this girl that can make me forget about everything else that's going on in the world. For about the millionth time, I smile down at her, wondering what I ever did without her in my life.  
  
"Wow," is all I can manage out. In the corner of my eye, I see Collin and Amy watching us curiously, so I grab her arm and drag her a bit further down the hall, out of earshot. She's sill grinning ear-to-ear.  
  
"What was that?" I ask. "I mean, not that I mind, but..."  
  
"Look, I said it last night and I'm going to say it again: I'm not stupid. I know you've got a thing going for Amy - " I try to interrupt her to protest, but she holds up her hand and continues.  
  
"But I heard what you said and I believe you. I might not like it, or want to understand it, but for some odd reason, I trust you. And the bottom line is, relationships are never easy. We're going to fight and cry just as much as we're going to laugh and smile. I know a good thing when I see it, Ephram. You're something special. And I'm not going to let you go over a stupid crush." She takes a deep breath. "Okay?"  
  
"Okay." And just our luck, the bell rings. Laynie stands on tiptoe again to give me another breathtaking kiss, then she's off, sprinting down the hallway. For a short moment, I stand there in stunned silence. This girl, above everything, lives to confuse me. One thing about Laynie, she always keeps you on your toes.   
  
I barely make it to class on time. But as I plop myself into my usual seat in the back row, my eyes drift to the window and the sun is shining and I'm getting some weird looks but I know I'm going to be grinning idiotically like this for the rest of the day. 


End file.
